Hierarchy
by wild wolf free17
Summary: He thinks she doesn’t know where he goes when he doesn’t share their bed. [AU, oneshot]


**Title**: Hierarchy

**Fandom**: _Shrek_

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; just for fun.

**Warnings**: spoilers and AU for _Shrek the Third_

**Pairings**: Charming/Rapunzel, Charming/Arthur

**Rating**: R

**Wordcount**: 1440

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: Why, yes, I am sick. Thank you for asking.

* * *

He thinks she doesn't know where he goes when he doesn't share their bed. He thinks she hasn't the faintest of clues. But she knows full well he's going to the prison tower. 

And she knows what he does while he's there.

-

Fordam, the head guard, did his best to hide the truth. He forbade his underlings, on orders from Charming, to speak with her.

But Rapunzel has learned to piece things together, and all the hints added up quite well.

If it were another woman, Rapunzel doubts she'd care.

-

He does not go to the tower every night, often not even once a week. He does not stay long, usually not more than three hours.

Charming had sworn to her that the other princesses, the queen, and Fiona wouldn't be hurt. Instead, he killed them all. The dragon, too. She did manage to save the young half-breeds, Donkey, the Gingerbread Man, and Puss in Boots, got them all out of the realm.

What Charming's turned the kingdom into is a nightmare, and Rapunzel has only herself to blame.

-

He wooed her with pretty words, jewelry, and flowers. He promised her a crown and a court, happiness and happily ever after.

Charming lied to her, and lies to her still.

-

Shrek died slowly. Hundreds of people watched, sobbing and begging Charming to stop. Shrek died shrieking his rage, after watching Fiona executed.

If Rapunzel had known this is what would happen, she would have chosen another way.

-

Charming is hated by most everyone, even his followers. Rebellions are planned weekly, attempted monthly, and put down swiftly. The ringleaders are always killed.

The only heir left to the throne lives in the prison tower, a young man named Arthur. If Charming would kill him, the spirit of the people would be shattered.

But Charming will not kill him. He has other things planned for the boy.

Rapunzel hates him for those things.

-

Three years after stealing the throne from its rightful owners, Rapunzel visits the prison tower. She glares the guards into submission and they leave.

She remembers this boy as defiant, as strong. Now he huddles in the corner, flinching from light and noise.

"Hello, Arthur," she says softly, dropping to her knees outside the bars. Her dark blue dress settles around her, stirring dust; she doesn't care. No sunlight penetrates the gloom from the far-off window; she relies on the torches at the end of the hall. He doesn't move, doesn't react, and she shifts on the floor, trying to think of what to say.

Why has she come here? To apologize, to demand why? Too little, too late, and she knows it. No words can make up for what her husband has done, for what Charming has taken away from this child.

"I would ask forgiveness," she whispers. "But I do not deserve it."

She kneels in silence until sunset and then rises, knowing her penance is not done. Can never be done.

Rapunzel leaves without looking back.

-

That night, Charming does not share their bed. Rapunzel imagines Arthur writhing beneath him, begging for mercy—if he speaks anymore. She imagines those large, dark eyes brimming with tears, with fear and desperation, with despair… but she is trapped, helpless, caught in Charming's web.

She cannot save herself—and so, cannot save him. She managed to save Donkey and his babies, Puss and the Gingerbread Man. But everyone else…

There is no way out for her, so the only thing left to do is wait. Charming will slip up one day, and then…

Well, if her intelligence is correct, Donkey and Puss are creating an army. They'll need an inside girl.

And Charming _is_ keeping the heir alive.

-

She visits every now and then, not even twice a month. The boy never speaks to her, but she talks about life before the tower and the witch, before Far Far Away, before Charming. Sometimes, she'd almost swear he nods or focuses on her.

Rapunzel does not ask him questions, nearly terrified that one day he'll actually answer. She knows what Charming does with this boy—_to_ this boy—but to hear it from his own lips, in that voice she barely recalls… she could not bear it.

-

Captain James Hook plays the piano as Charming announces to the people of the realm that his wife is now carrying his heir.

Rapunzel knows that she cannot bear this man a child—but she refuses to kill her baby. So she makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin: if he takes the babe far away, he can keep the son or daughter forever. But he mustn't ever let Charming get his hands on the child.

The little man agrees.

-

Rapunzel names her daughter Danalyn. Rumpelstilskin steals the babe in the night and the queen of Far Far Away breathes a sigh of relief when she wakes to her child gone.

Then she screams for Charming and guards and her daughter.

-

Arthur is the only one she tells of her plan. She is tired of Charming, tired of looking over her shoulder, tired of remembering the world as it used to be, before she foolishly made a play for queen. And the boy—man—locked away in the tower is the closest thing she has to a friend since her husband killed the princesses.

"I would ask your forgiveness," she says again, that final day. "But I do not deserve absolution, not yet." She opens the door and walks in, crouches beside him. Her dark gray trousers blend into the cold stone, and her black shirt absorbs what little light there is. She leans forward and softly kisses his forehead, his nose, his lips. "Forgive me one day, Highness."

And she leaves Far Far Away, heads east. Donkey and Puss have an army in the making—they'll need a queen.

-

She travels for months before finding them. They have no reason to trust her, but she wins their allegiance. The Gingerbread Man knows how to contact Rumpelstiltskin, and Rapunzel is able to hold her daughter.

Danalyn is nearly two years old, now.

Charming marries again, of course. Rapunzel wonders what the new girl thinks of his visits to the tower.

-

It isn't until nearly ten years after Charming takes over that Donkey and Puss are ready. Donkey's children have grown nearly to their mother's size and are excellent assets; Puss located some family, all as good at fighting as him.

Refugees from Charming flock to their army, and others who don't want him gaining control of anywhere else. It swells and grows, gaining momentum and fervor as they march for Charming's stolen realm.

The citizens will join them once they cross the borders.

And then Yolanda, Charming's second bride, gives birth to a son.

-

The boy is named Nicholas and he cannot be allowed to live. Rapunzel argues with the generals for weeks as they draw ever closer to the capital, but they will not budge.

Neither Puss nor Donkey chooses a side, though Rapunzel hears Donkey talking to one of his sons—Bananas, she thinks—telling him to take the boy and fly.

-

George, the supreme commander of the army, is killed within sight of the castle. Rapunzel takes over.

She sees Bananas soaring away, a child held in his mouth, and is relieved.

Charming's reign began with bloodletting. She doesn't want Arthur's to begin the same.

-

Rapunzel, Queen of Far Far Away, stands outside the cell that holds the eldest of three heirs—the only _true_ heir—to the throne. On her left stands a large cat wearing boots and on her right a small donkey.

In the streets, some fighting still continues, but Charming is dead and his court crumbling. All that remains is to release the rightful king.

"Artie?" Donkey says hesitantly, pushing his nose through the bars. "Artie, do you remember me?"

Arthur doesn't respond. Rapunzel wonders how long it's been since he was the boy Donkey remembers.

"Artie?" Puss tries.

Rapunzel opens the door and slips in, her leather boots silent on the stones. "Arthur Pendragon," she murmurs, kneeling beside him. "I've brought something for you."

From the sheathe belted around her waist, she pulls a long, thin sword.

Puss gasps. "Is that…?" He can't even finish the question.

"Excalibur," Rapunzel says. "For the rightful king." Arthur raises his head. "For you, Majesty."

Slowly, he reaches out and closes his fist around the hilt.

-

When Arthur is crowned king and the people cheer, absolution tastes like strawberries on her tongue.


End file.
